The end of this week welcomes the lunar Spring Festival and the beginning of new fortune.
What does that mean? It means, Well then, you’re in luck. Because this week is chock full of sweetness, what with Happy Chinese New Year, Happy Vietnamese New Year, and Happy Korean New Year everyone!
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Galloping in with power, fortune, strength and good luck in 2014 is the Year of the Horse. I asked my roommate Adrian (who is Chinese-Puerto Rican) how the different Chinese zodiacs developed. The story is a rather interesting one!
The legendary tale all starts with “The Great Race”.
The Jade Emperor, who is the Emperor in Heaven in Chinese folklore decreed for the animals to be assigned a calendar year as a way of measuring time. And so he called for a swimming race to take place on his birthday, where the first 12 animals that made it across would each have a year of the zodiac named after them.
And so the race began! The rat tricked his way into coming first to claim the first zodiac year named after him, and so it continued all the way until the boar took 12th place for the final year of the zodiac.
“Okay, so what about the horse?”, I asked Adrian.
The horse almost came in sixth place, but because of a sneaky snake, the horse arrived at the auspicious seventh place.
What an awesome legend right? Let’s join in on the auspicious fun, fireworks and inspirational wishes this 31st of January, as the Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean cultures that celebrate this Spring Festival enter the auspicious seventh Year of the Horse.
Oh, and just as a tip, Adrian told me that it is Chinese New Year tradition to say “Gong Xi Fa Cai” as a Chinese New Year greeting. “Gong Xi” is congratulations or wishing someone joy, while “Fa Cai” is to become rich or to make money.
Let’s send our joyful wishes to everyone for a prosperous Year of the Horse with a speedy Happy Chinese New Year 2014, Happy Vietnamese New Year 2014, and Happy Korean New Year 2014 greeting cards filled with good luck symbols & fortune.